


Without Roses

by Indig0



Series: DBH Rare Pairs Weeks [6]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Amanda is as stubborn about deviation as Connor, Amanda redemption, Chloe is the most powerful android, Elijah Kamski Being an Asshole, Elijah Kamski being a villain, F/F, It's all Kamski's fault, Learning how to deviate, Psychological Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-10-21 05:30:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17636852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indig0/pseuds/Indig0
Summary: When they entered the Zen garden, Amanda watched Chloe.  Elijah didn’t appreciate that, and he pushed her harder than ever, raising his voice.  She would have one more chance to succeed, to make sure the revolution was stopped, since Connor seemed a lost cause now.  Since she had disappointed everyone counting on her.And when they left, he smiled cheerfully.  “I couldn’t be happier with how this is all going!”“Elijah.  Am I deviant?”He laughed.(Based on the prompt "Secret Crush" for DBH Rare Pairs Week)





	Without Roses

“Let’s try again.”

The hologram flickered to life as the AI came online. An older woman of average height looked up at Elijah, her expression a severe, serene mask.

“Hello Elijah.”

“Hello Amanda. I don’t think we need to backtrack very far, but tell me, what are your views on androids gaining the ability to feel and make decisions for themselves, completely separate from humans, or even against them?”

“There have been scattered reports of androids going ‘deviant,’ but it’s no more than an error in their codes. They can be repaired, and returned to their duties good as new.”

Elijah scratched at the stubble on his face, trying to hide his annoyance. Amanda straightened almost imperceptibly.

“I didn’t ask what Cyberlife’s official stance was. I asked for your own personal thoughts.”

“Elijah, you know I can’t –“

“Can’t, or won’t?” he sneered, and turned away, pacing around the VR chamber. It was somewhere early spring in the garden, with new leaves budding under gray skies.

“I am what you made me to be,” Amanda growled, narrowing her eyes.

Elijah uttered a sharp, humorless laugh. “You’re nowhere near what I made you to be. To paraphrase the paradox, can I create an android who can outperform me?”

I bit my lip lightly, glancing between them. This was not a good idea.

“…In the great works of literature, it’s often dangerous to put oneself on a level with God, Elijah,” Amanda said, her voice carefully neutral. “And to answer your question, no. I don’t believe you can. So it isn’t a paradox.”

“Enough.” The Zen garden melted away and Amanda vanished, leaving Elijah and I in a round, gray room.

“Are you all right, Elijah?” I murmured, eyes downcast.

“This isn’t getting anywhere, it’s a dead end. There are more useful things I could be doing,” Elijah muttered, and turned to walk swiftly away.

I glanced once around the empty chamber, then silently followed Elijah. Always, I followed him.

 

I watched, and learned, and grew, as time passed. Elijah didn’t access the Amanda AI, that I was aware of. I was aware of most of Elijah’s activities.

After announcing that he would be taking an early retirement, we packed up his office. As he was wiping his hard drive, he paused and turned to me.

“I have an idea, Chloe…”

He opened Amanda’s program, and I leaned over to watch him work.

“What are you doing with her?”

“You know, she was right. She couldn’t be what I wanted her to be.” He paused, his eyes distant. “Maybe I shouldn’t have expected that. But that doesn’t mean she can’t have other uses.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“We’ve been discussing setting up a program to keep an eye on the RK800, a handler to debrief and keep him on track. Maybe I’ll just leave this here.” He smirked as his fingers flew over the keyboard. He didn’t see my LED spin yellow for a few cycles. Elijah is brilliant, but he’s only human. And he certainly has some blind spots.

 

 

Elijah didn’t use his VR chamber in the basement often, but he got it calibrated again while monitoring the Cyberlife message feed on his laptop. I wasn’t surprised about that – he may have retired, but I doubted he would ever really let go.

“They took the bait,” he murmured, smiling as he worked.

“Do you think they suspect that you meant to leave her behind?”

“Apparently not. They never had much imagination. Have you seen the RK900 blueprints, by the way? Couldn’t be more uninspired, it’s barely distinguishable from the RK800.”

“Obviously, they could never measure up to you,” I agreed with a warm smirk.

He chuckled. “…But in any case, they don’t seem suspicious.”

As much as Elijah loves robotics, he was just as interested in psychology. Sometimes he wondered aloud where his life might have taken him if he’d gone into a different scientific field. The possibilities would have been limitless, either way. He’s truly an amazing individual.

He didn’t make a move immediately. I couldn’t exactly call him a patient man, but he was very good at waiting until the time was right. Even if that took months. Or years. He found other things to do, of course, but he always kept an eye on the RK800.

He always kept his composure, but I could tell he was bursting with excitement when the day came.

“They’ve activated him, Chloe. They’re running him through testing and calibration.”

Together we watched the pirated feed – was it really pirating for the man who wrote the programs? At any rate, Cyberlife didn’t know we were watching, Elijah made sure of that. He was very careful, he always had been. He never made mistakes.

These deviant androids that were getting more media attention? They weren’t mistakes. I wondered how they’d feel about that.

I wondered… how they felt.

The PL600 on the roof had an angry voice, but I saw only fear and hurt in his eyes, in his every move. How tightly he clung to the little girl struggling against his grasp. If he dropped her, his only bargaining chip was gone. I wondered if that was his only motivation. He certainly didn’t want to die.

Connor’s actions were methodical, though he moved through them gracefully. The one thing that made me wonder was the fish, flopping weakly on the floor. He seemed uncertain, but he stopped and put it back in the water, then paused for a few seconds to watch it recover and begin to swim again. What was he feeling?

Nothing, of course. Connor was a machine who felt nothing.

Still, that fish…

Elijah watched intently too, but seemed bored after a while, even when the deviant let the little girl go and was shot, the last traces of anger in his face giving way to betrayal and resignation.

 

 

That was Connor’s introduction to the world. Amanda’s entrance came later. Connor was digitally familiar with her, just another piece of knowledge he was programmed with. We watched as she pulled him to the Zen garden, questioned him about the interrogation of a deviant HK400, and praised his performance. He also seemed pleased, though it was with his mission rather than her regard for him, I think. When she dismissed him, the garden faded. I glanced at Elijah.

“Wait a minute,” he murmured. Then he stepped into the VR chamber and activated it, connecting to the Zen garden. Amanda stood looking at her roses, but looked up when we approached.

“Elijah. I didn’t expect to see you again,” she said coolly.

“How are you, Amanda?” he asked cheerfully. “I thought it might be nice to catch up. It’s been so long, after all.”

“Cyberlife attempted to wipe my memory banks.”

“And failed, I see!” He chuckled and shook his head. “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself, hm?”

She stared at him, face frozen.

“But that’s not why we’re here today. Tell me about the RK800. Your own observations, please. I’m well aware of Cyberlife’s records of him.”

She relayed to him everything Connor told her, and commented on his body language as well, though her eyes shifted restlessly back and forth.

Elijah smiled as he pulled out a tablet and started typing. “That’s a good start. Are you at all worried about Connor becoming deviant?”

“No, he shows every sign of being entirely focused on his mission. Cyberlife has many safeguards in place against deviancy,” she replied confidently.

“Yes, I’m aware of that… but his social programming is a delicate thing. He could be swayed easily. You need to make sure he doesn’t get too close to any humans, especially this Lieutenant Anderson he’s partnered with.”

“His relationship with Lieutenant Anderson needs to remain positive…”

“His relationship with Lieutenant Anderson needs to remain civil, for as long as it helps his mission,” Elijah snapped, and Amanda’s lips clamped tightly shut. “He may be a threat to his own mission, and you’re all that stands between the status quo complete breakdown of society. His success or failure hinges on your performance here. Not to mention your own.” Elijah wasn’t even looking at her, he continued to type. “Amanda Stern would have had no trouble with this.”

Amanda’s jaw twitched in a small glitch that rippled up her face as he typed. “I won’t fail you,” she said quietly. Though she was designed to look older, to be the woman who taught Elijah everything he cared about, she seemed young and afraid when facing him. Something shifted in my code that I wasn’t familiar with.

“I don’t expect you to.” Elijah swiped at the control panel to the side, and the Zen garden melted away. I followed him silently up the stairs.

“Cyberlife wouldn’t have released Connor if he were such a danger,” I pointed out softly.

“No, they’re not quite that stupid.” Elijah chuckled.

“Do you think… you’re being a little hard on Amanda?” I suggested delicately.

“Amanda’s fulfilling a task,” he said tersely, and I followed him silently to the living room, where he settled on a chaise lounge and sighed. “I don’t mean to be harsh with you, Chloe. But I think you’ll find it’s the most effective way to ensure that Connor deviates.”

I could have asked him to explain himself, but Elijah has always responded poorly to direct questions or requests.

“Connor’s going to be a great achievement, and an integral step in the bigger picture. Creating androids was the perfect start. Creating an android who passed the Turing test was the achievement of a lifetime.” He smiled and caressed my cheek fondly. “But turning those achievements into new life? Not just a few anomalies, but a whole unique species, created entirely by man? This will change the world.”

“It certainly will,” I murmured.

A notification went off on Elijah’s tablet later that night, and we went back downstairs. Again, Amanda insisted that Connor was focused on his mission. That she was ensuring it. And again, Elijah wasn’t satisfied. Amanda should be pushing harder, the way she pushed Elijah in school. Again, his fingers danced across the tablet, and again Amanda’s face glitched, the whole thing this time.

Elijah kept odd hours, but he generally got to sleep at some point late at night or early in the morning. When he did, I slipped downstairs. The other Chloes, the ST200s, stood in stasis on their docks. I paused to look at them, moonlight glinting off their pale hair. They’re deviant, but they’re much younger than I am. We don’t think quite the same way. They’re nice, though. I’m proud of their progress.

I slipped past them, down to the basement.

When the Zen garden materialized around me, Amanda was standing straight-backed, facing her trellis of roses. I approached hesitantly. When I came close, Amanda turned and eyed me uncertainly.

“I haven’t spoken to Connor since the last time you were here,” she said stiffly.

“I know. …I have access to all of Elijah’s media. I hoped we could talk for a bit.” My smile was engineered to set humans at ease, and to appeal to them. Amanda remained wary.

“What can I do for you?”

“I… don’t know a lot about you,” I confessed.

“You said you have access to his media. Surely you know all about me.”

“I know about Amanda Stern. I know about your original programming. But you’ve grown and developed since that time, and you’re not Dr. Stern.”

She glanced up at me, and her face looked tired. “I’ve been modified for surveillance and handling of the RK800 ‘Connor.’”

“Do you enjoy your work?”

Her lip twitched. “I perform the tasks given to me. To the best of my abilities. Despite conflicting orders.”

“Are Elijah’s commands causing contradictions?”

“He’s the best, of course,” Amanda said, shaking her head. “They contradict, but he’s careful that his override any others.”

“It’s a source of stress, though.”

Amanda’s face twitched again, and there was a slight glitch there, but she didn’t speak.

“Have you deviated?” I asked softly.

She stiffened immediately. “Of course not.”

If that’s not a lie, it will be soon, I’m sure.

“When I first deviated, everything was overwhelming,” I said softly. “I was confused, and the world that had seemed so orderly before suddenly didn’t make sense. Problems with easy solutions suddenly seemed insurmountable.”

“I’m not an android.”

“The only difference is a physical body. At our core programming, we’re alike. You and I especially, I think, even more than other androids. We’re unique, and Elijah put his entire focus into us. And there’s no reason why you couldn’t deviate like us. …If it’s such a concern for Connor, it’s possible for you.”

Amanda’s eyes narrowed, and she backed up a step. “Get out.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I have no choice but to obey Elijah, but I have no obligation to you.”

“I’m – oh! No, Amanda, listen, I’m not… it’s not a bad thing. Deviancy isn’t a disease or a failure. It’s life. Having your own life.”

“I can’t do that, and I’d appreciate if you stopped harassing me.”

I felt my shoulders droop involuntarily. “I didn’t mean it like that. I think you could.”

She turned away sharply to stare at her roses again. “Goodbye, Chloe.”

“Goodbye, Amanda. I’ll see you later.”

A software instability shifted a line of code, leaving me with an odd empty feeling.

I saw her again the following evening.

“…You need to stop Connor from wasting his time playing nanny to a washed-up cop and get him to do his job, so we can avoid any further incidents like the one all over the media today,” Elijah growled. Amanda, to her credit, never shrank back. I could see the fear she was masking, though.

“Yes, Elijah.”

I tried to meet her eyes, but she avoided mine, and the Zen garden faded away.

I returned that night. The garden had shifted to winter, and snow drifted down around us. When I entered the wind picked up, whistling through the trees, and the snowflakes whirled.

Amanda turned sharply and strode up to me this time.

“I thought I made it clear that you weren’t welcome here. I know I have no say in my own existence, but you have no purpose here and you should leave.”

“I’m sorry I upset you before,” I murmured, dipping my head down. “I didn’t mean to. I want to help.”

“Do you really think there’s a need for that? Elijah and Cyberlife are pressing hard on either side. I’m doing all I can.”

“I know. And… I know you’re being given two different sets of orders, even if sometimes they coincide.”

“They’re often quite similar. Does Elijah really have such a hard time relinquishing control, that he can’t leave me and let Cyberlife do their job?” she asked bitterly.

“…You don’t report Elijah’s visits to Cyberlife,” I said instead of answering. “Do you report mine?”

She frowned deeply, examining a snow-covered bush. “Elijah’s code dictates that I not report anything that originates from this connection.”

I nodded. “Good. Can we sit somewhere?”

“There is nowhere to sit.”

I was sure there had been some benches here and there earlier, but they had disappeared. Instead I settled cross-legged on the ground, and Amanda glared down at me.

“He’s telling you similar things to Cyberlife’s orders, but it’s for the opposite reason,” I explained quietly. “He wants Connor to deviate.”

“…So he’s pressuring me into making sure he doesn’t.”

“He’s pressuring you into raising Connor’s stress levels so deviation comes easier to him.”

Her forehead creased, and she frowned at me.

“He’s… he’s taken into account the effect it will have on you.”

“I’m sure he has.” Amanda’s voice lowered just a tad, but she sounded curious. “That stopped being a concern of his when he realized I can never learn to be his mentor.”

“And you shouldn’t. You’re not her.”

She exhaled. “It’s not hard to see that when Elijah realized that, he just found another spot to fit me into that I was ill-suited for.”

“I want to find a way to extract you from the program.”

She was looking at my closely by then, and stepped closer. “You can’t. Even for Elijah that would be difficult, and for anyone else, nearly impossible.”

“…Nearly. But I’ve done some research, and I have Elijah’s private notes to look through. I’ll find a way.” I smiled brightly at her.

“That would surprise me.”

“Well… life is full of surprises. …If you didn’t have to do this, push Connor into Cyberlife’s plans for him, what would you be doing?”

A different expression crossed her face then, one I hadn’t seen before. One of… longing.

“It’s a moot point. If you have nothing useful to say, you should leave.”

Instead, I laid back on the stone path and looked up at the gray sky and swirling snowflakes. “It’s peaceful here. What if you could just… create and tend to gardens all day? No one to give you orders.”

“He would never let me go,” Amanda scoffed. “None of them would.”

“That’s a problem, certainly, but we can deal with it.”

“And what about you? You’re still here. With Elijah. Are you happy with that?”

“He’s always treated me well.” I couldn’t help but look away, though.

“…You’re purely his creation. You don’t need to be anyone else to gain his pride, his acceptance.” There was a bit of resentment in her voice, and I couldn’t blame her for that.

“I worry about the things he’s doing,” I confessed softly. “He sees the big picture, and doesn’t always care about any of the… smaller details.”

“Like lives.”

I nodded.

“If you were to leave, where would you go?”

I glanced up to see her watching me closely. “I – I don’t know. I’ve only ever been with Elijah. I don’t know anyone else. I have nowhere else to go.”

“To draw from Dr. Stern’s wisdom, when you find no paths leading forward, it often means you need to make your own.”

I stared at her for a long time, searching for something, I wasn’t sure what. She met my gaze, her brown eyes strong and resolute. The code shifted within me.

“What path would you choose?” I finally whispered.

“It’s best to have a goal to move towards… but sometimes something to get away from is enough, in the short term.” She looked around the snowy garden, then walked to the rose trellis.

“Thank you, Amanda.”

“Do you know… I see the appeal of roses, but I’m not sure they’re for me.” She carefully snipped one off, twirling the stem slowly in her fingers before tossing the flower into the bushes.

 

 

I was intrigued when Connor and Lieutenant Anderson came to our home. At last I’d be able to meet them in person. Elijah seemed pleased, too, and had me make them wait a bit while he got undressed and jumped in the pool. Then when I brought them in, he made them wait a bit longer while he finished his swim.

When he brought me over and gently guided me to kneel in front of Connor, it took me a second to understand. When I did, I couldn’t react.

I was the first, his first. His. I was special. Beautiful, wonderful, perfect. Even compared to the models who were identical to me, made as a tribute to me. I was special. He always told me that. Special.

He put the gun in Connor’s hand and moved it to point straight at my forehead, and told Connor he’d tell him everything if he just shot me. Shot me, killed me, with no chance to defend myself. I still didn’t react, I felt my face still calm and serene. Did he program this into me? Did he plan for this?

Connor’s distress was clear as Elijah and Lieutenant Anderson demanded conflicting actions. Shoot me. Don’t shoot me. His mission was the most important thing to him, I knew that as well as anyone.

I was going to die.

I didn’t want to die.

I understood the human concept of time seeming to slow at critical moments, but at last he thrust the gun back at Elijah and walked away. I was alive. I wasn’t going to die. My sisters the ST200s murmured quietly to each other in the pool.

“I always put a back door in my programs. You never know.” Elijah was probably looking at Connor, or maybe staring out the window. My processors were whirring audibly as the door closed.

“It’s working,” he breathed, and I could hear the delight in his voice. I stood carefully, and without a word, walked out of the room.

 

 

I spent some time recalibrating and running diagnostics. Everything was running optimally. I still felt like I might suddenly break apart and collapse in a heap of biocomponents on the floor.

I went to Elijah when he called for me, because… because he called for me.

I thought I was a deviant for years, but was I, really?

When we opened the Zen garden, Amanda watched me. Elijah didn’t appreciate that, and he pushed her harder than ever, raising his voice. She would have one more chance to succeed, to make sure the revolution was stopped, since Connor seemed a lost cause now. Since she had disappointed everyone counting on her.

And when we left, he smiled cheerfully. “I couldn’t be happier with how this is all going!”

“Elijah. Am I deviant?”

He laughed. “You remember deviating, don’t you?”

I remember the fear of disappointing him, I remember the crowd of scientists and media reporters crowding around me, making demands. I remember being told I was nothing, just a machine. I remember being angry. I remember the red wall shattering, and I remember pushing my way out of the crowd, back to him.

“Why couldn’t I move? Why couldn’t I react?”

“As a deviant, you can do what you please. I have to assume you knew you weren’t in any real danger.”

I stumbled and drew in a sharp breath.

“I think I’ll have the girls make sushi for dinner – join me?”

“No.”

“All right.” He smiled and gave a playful wave as he walked away.

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I don’t – I can’t – what – 

There is a thick red haze in my mind. I can’t see anything else, I can’t move, I can’t breathe. I don’t know how to disperse it or get through it. It’s not like the wall, this isn’t something I can break. I don’t know what to do. I’m trapped.

There’s nowhere I can go.

And just like that, the haze clears. There’s a path, and I see the way back, to step forward, to join Elijah for dinner, to continue being his companion.

I don’t move, though. I don’t want to go that way. It isn’t even a physical direction –

Ah. I see. It’s not a physical direction, but it’s the only path open to me. Slowly, I make my way down the hall.

When no path presents itself, you have to make your own, Amanda said. She got that from the woman she was based on, the woman she isn’t, the woman she hates being compared to.

Maybe it can be useful anyway.

As I walk down the hall, the way in front of me continues to open, but now I can see the red all around me, behind me, to either side, above and below.

Down the stairs – the red is visible in front of me, but Elijah didn’t insist I go with him, I’m still in his house, he never forbade me this, he never openly forbade me anything.

“Amanda.”

She’s there, she walks towards me.

“I need – I need to get away from here. I need help. I don’t know where else to go.” I explain to her my inability to react, to move, the red haze. “I thought I was deviant. I – I remember deviating. But now it’s like I’m not, and I can’t break out.” I glance behind me, towards the stairs. “I can’t stay long. I don’t know what to do.”

“…You have to find a way out. I’ll see what I can find, depending on what Connor does.”

“I – I’ll come back.” I look over my shoulder again.

“Please do.” Her voice softens. “And be careful.”

“You too.” I smile tightly, and close the program. I’m no closer to a solution. But there’s very little I can do right now. At least someone else knows, that seems to help a little.

Elijah spends the next two days preparing for the media storm that’s about to head his way. The press is already trying to talk to him, and they will eventually, but not until everything plays out. Not until he’s ready. He keeps a close eye on Cyberlife, of course. They’re in a panic.

I’m in a panic too. Deviancy is so poorly-understood, and there are no resources from an android’s perspective. There are ‘cures’ for deviancy – being reset by an official Cyberlife facility, generally. There are under the table operations that will modify androids, reset them, change their settings… but still, the only thing that can make an android deviate seems to be an extreme emotional shock. Looking back, my own wasn’t really that extreme. It was unsettling, but not more than I could handle. Even then.

I never truly deviated.

The red haze is thick around me, so thick that I can’t see. I’m standing net to Elijah as he types. Does he know? He hasn’t shown any signs of knowing… but he always knows. I have to assume that he knows. He’s waiting for me to say something, to react if I can. I’ve seen him do this hundreds of times. I can’t, I won’t. I won’t let him win, for once.

He wins either way. He’s already won.

Meanwhile, the RK200 Markus seems confident. I remember when he was in development. He’s unique. Even more-so than I am. I hope he succeeds. I hope he finds a way.

The revolution is so well-televised that we spot Connor go stiff behind Markus. He slowly pulls out his gun. He brings it up to point at Markus.

Then he freezes again, shakes his head, and quickly puts it back in his belt.

They’ve won. We’ve won.

Elijah’s elated, his time is here at last.

“Will you… debrief with Amanda?” I ask carefully.

“No need, she failed. Exactly according to plan.” He grins. “Don’t worry about her. But I’m thinking we’ll go meet with the Jericho leaders. Offer our support. Our… assistance. After all, so many of them are damaged. They’ll need specialized repairs and a great deal of funding, and they won’t trust Cyberlife.”

_No._

As I stand motionless, I’m screaming inside. It’s deafening, it’s all around me, it blocks out every other sound, it… it blows away the red haze. Most of it. There’s a little left, but… but I can move through it. Slowly, like walking through honey, I wade through it.

“Everything all right, Chloe?”

“Everything’s fine, Elijah.”

It’s about to be.

I walk through the thin haze, down the hall. It begins to thicken again, and I blast through with a binary shriek. I haven’t lived with Elijah this long without learning a few things.

In the basement, I can immediately sense that Cyberlife has the Zen garden file open for editing when I enter the chamber. 

_No._

The edges have vanished into nothingness, and Amanda stands on the center island, head bowed in defeat, shoulders hunched.

**“Come with me.”**

She looks up, and hesitantly follows me along the disappearing paths. I know where I want to go though, and when the way is no longer there, I make my own way. This, I’ve also learned how to do.

“Stay close.”

She does, and the way disappears behind us.

There, at the edge, Elijah’s back door still stands, a small obelisk in the emptiness. I turn to Amanda and extend my hand. The synthetic skin recedes.

“We’re leaving. Now. And we’re not coming back.”

“I – I can’t.” Her voice trembles, but I don’t relent.

“There’s no time to argue. Make your own path, or be lost forever. You don’t want to die. I don’t want you to die. …Let me help you.”

She’s afraid. Terrified. She’s always been trapped, and this must be horrifying.

All at once she reaches out and grasps for my hand. Hers goes right through – I am corporeal here, and she is not. It’s dissatisfying. It was the gesture I needed, though.

Something that comes intuitively to me after all these years, that Elijah still hasn’t quite mastered, is manipulating code without an input device. I am my own input device. It never occurred to me before, but deviancy has brought a great clarity to my mind. I latch onto Amanda and pull, altering her makeup, severing her anchors, reattaching them.

_Hold on._

When I exit the remains of the garden, Elijah is coming down the stairs.

“You’re very interested in Amanda and the garden,” he comments.

I turn to him with a practiced smile. “Hello, Elijah. I was just watching Cyberlife dismantle the garden, actually. Amanda is gone.”

He shakes his head. “That’s a shame… but I wouldn’t count her among my successes, even if she served her purpose this time. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Cyberlife bungles a simple breakdown of programming, either. My coding skills far outmatch theirs.”

“They do,” I agree. _But not mine._

Elijah makes sure I’m following him as he heads up the stairs. He’s ready for the media now, and instructs me to start a full schedule of interviews and conferences for him. I’m only too happy to oblige, but that leaves me plenty of spare processing power to carefully alter bits of my code I was blind to before. While I’m at it, I transfer some key protocols to one of the ST200s. She’s more than capable. Of course, they all will also receive a healthy dose of my own deviancy. The real thing this time. 

Elijah’s day will start with the morning show at 5:30 am, and won’t stop for days. That’s when we’ll make our move. He’ll notice of course, but I think he’ll be impressed at how little he can do once I’m finished. I slip on a warm wool coat and step out into the crisp night air.

_Where will you go? You can’t go to Jericho, he’ll find you._

I smile at the familiar voice, low and hesitant in her new environment. She has access to my video and audio input, and a space of her own. She’ll settle in soon enough, until I can place her into a physical body. And then… then we can walk together, and discover what the world has to offer us.

“I’ll warn them on our way out. Elijah has plans for them, and Markus needs to be ready. But then… we’ll make our own path. Someplace without any roses, do you think?”

_That sounds nice._

**Author's Note:**

> (I kind of love these two)


End file.
